Holiday Travels

photo courtesy of Anna Wolf

We are packing up and getting ready to go see family for the holidays, and will not be back until 2010. Hope you have safe travels and happy holidays.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Georgia Home Show

The Georgia Home Show is January 9-10th at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA.

Visit the website and buy your tickets now to come see our office's exhibit.

We are forcing bulbs and getting ready... less than a month until show time!

Favorite Christmas Decoration Ideas

Christmas is officially just around the corner, and I love seeing all the Christmas decorations everywhere you go. Here is a collection of some of my favorite Christmas decoration ideas.

IVY! Topiaries, wreaths, etc. make great decor year round, but tie a red bow around it and it is perfect for Christmas!

This moss wreath is amazing...

*Courtesy of Martha Stewart

Paper Whites! Great for decor and also a great gift to give friends.

*Courtesy of Coastal Living

Christmas trees outside. Not everyone has the space, but I love the creative idea.

*Courtesy of Coastal Living

M E R R Y C H R I S T MA S !

2 Discoveries...

I was catching up on my blog readings last week, when I saw Silver Bottom South had a post on One Kings Lane. Then the next blog that I read was Continuous Thread of Revelation, and they also had a post on One Kings Lane. I immediately clicked on the site, and was thrilled by what I saw.

I know that we are not supposed to judge a book by it's cover, but when marketers have pretty pictures and well designed logos, I am just about sold. As I began to explore the site, I loved everything that I saw. The site has different brands of home goods and accessories at a whole sale price. Click this link to check it out and become a member.

It would be a great place to get some christmas gift ideas!

Discovery #2... another product with gorgeous marketing photos, Ego Paris. Last week a lovely french woman who is a rep for Ego Paris, came to our office to introduce their outdoor furniture.

Although, I usually have more traditional taste, I was very impressed with the line.

It is all very well designed and engineered.

And could be perfect for a more contemporary setting.

With pretty marketing pictures like these, how can you not love it!

Stop and Smell the Roses

I apologize for being so absent lately. I have had my nose in a book or have been hunched over a drafting table for the past few weeks, studying and working practice problems. I took section E of the L.A.R.E exam yesterday. Five hours spent on four vignette problems has left my brain exhausted. Now, I am just glad that it is over, and I am going to take a break to stop and smell the roses. I will get back into the swing of things with more regular post beginning next week.

Have a great rest of the week and weekend!

And don't forget to stop and smell the roses!

Timeless Design

Ars Longa, Vita Brevis = Art is long, life is short

After reading a post by Style Chronicle and Things that Inspire about trends that define the 2000s and The Trends of Tomorrow, I began thinking about trends in landscape design.

Gardens pictured above: Versailles, Filoli, and home designed by DLA in Atlanta, GA

Although we have had the famous names of those we remember as altering landscape design as we know it, (i.e. Olmsted, the first landscape architect and Thomas Church with the modern movement) I believe that one of the great things about garden design is that well designed gardens last forever.

Ars longa, vita brevis is from The Aphorisms of Hippocrates meaning that life is short, but art will live on long after we are gone. A well designed garden built with sustainable materials can last forever. There are several world famous gardens that we continue to study and learn from that prove this theory. Although they may be on quite expansive scales, the basic elements are still the same components that we use in garden design today.

Claude Monet's garden at Giverny

Gardens, of course, have altered somewhat through the years. As our lots get smaller, gardens become more of an extension of our home. So build a porch, extend a patio, buy some classic outdoor furniture, and watch your garden spring into life.